Saturday 4 October 2008

Paul & Joe Mook

If you're interested in Paul & Joe clothes, you may want to pick up a copy of its Autumn/Winter '09 Mook (for "magazine book") which was published in Japan on 3 October. It's available on Amazon.co.jp for 1380yen (excludes shipping) and comes with a tote bag with the same cat print that is being featured in the Christmas makeup collection.




I'm still trying to make up my mind whether to get it. Problem is I'm seriously running out of closet space! I came this *close* to coming home with the trolley bag GWP today but sadly, couldn't find anything that I actually wanted from P&J. The trolley bag is quite well-made. The front of the bag, with the poppy print, is made of a plastic material which makes it easy to clean and more stain-resistant than fabric. I really liked it but just couldn't justify spending $180 on makeup that I did not want in the first place.

Another thing that caught my eye was the new Chanel Joues Contraste blush in In Love, which was a pretty shimmery peach coral with good color payoff. The other new Joues Contraste, Tea Rose, was much less impressive as I could hardly get it to show up. It's a boring matte pale pink that is suitable only for ladies with very fair skintones. The new tweed blushes were in too, but the different colours making up the tweed effect disappears after a few brushes of the surface, so that was a disappointment. The shades were nice, with a fair bit of shimmer, but I had just retrieved my stash of Nars blushes from storage (after a year!) this morning so I passed on the Chanel for now. Anyway, both the new Joues Contraste and tweed blushes are permanent, so I can take my time thinking whether they are really worth the S$63 price tag.

And speaking of Nars blushes, the rubber packaging is seriously the worst I've ever encountered among prestige makeup brands. Aside from the fact that it's a pain to clean and attracts powder particles easily, it turns into a horrid sticky mess in tropical climates! I had read elsewhere another blogger complaining that her Nars blush compact actually melted and she had pictures to prove it. Today, when I unwrapped my Nars blushes of their bubble wrap, the compacts had developed a nasty sticky texture. So basically I'll have to try to use these babies up quickly before they melt!

10 comments:

Vichaya said...

Try wiping the compact with soft damp warm cloth. and put it near the air con'd for a while. That will make it less sticky. Just make sure the cloth's not too wet that the water seep in the compact.
I've tried this before. Although not perfect but it helps.
^v^

Anonymous said...

Oooo, something for me to look out for! Thanks Iris!

Anonymous said...

Iris,
The P&J bag is nice, do you know if it's patent aka plastic material? Will it be coming to Sg?

Abt the Nars mu, the same happen to me eons ago and i have since depotted all my blushes and threw away the yucky casing. Now i swear off Nars!!

Vel
aka Caramelgirl

Haru said...

Hi Vel,
I'm not sure what material the bag is made of as it was not listed in the product description on Amazon Japan. Kinokuniya usually brings in the mooks by various fashion labels such as Jill Stuart and Marc Jacobs so I'm crossing my fingers that they'll bring in the P&J one as well. Best to check with Kino directly?

How did you depot the Nars blushes? I'm scared of cracking or breaking them!

Hi Vichiya,

Thanks for the tip, I'll try it. I was even considering wrapping them in plastic wrap just so my fingers wouldn't get stick when handling them.

Anonymous said...

You can try using thinner(or some alcohol solvent) to wipe the compact, although the words will go off, however, at least your compact won't be sticky anymore

the Muse said...

iris, my beautiful friend, totally with you on NARS packaging!

I think NARS is possibly one of the better quality brands that I collect and I must say the packaging just blows and I don't see them changing it in the future either.

As you mentioned it attracts particles terribly but that's not my main beef with it...the most irritating thing is how sticky the palettes become...but who knows from what exactly!?

They become rather gooey and disgusting feeling which makes me store them separately, far away from my other makeup items!

I think they have some sort of edge with the packaging but I personally hate it!

Another non lover of NARS packaging here :P

Haru said...

Hey Izzy,

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, I know how incredibly busy you are with your own blog and work! I remember reading a long time ago that Francois Nars is particularly attached to the black rubber packaging, so I agree that it's unlikely to change anytime soon. But it's just amazing that a company would choose to let such crappy packaging detract from what are really great blushes and eyeshadows.

Hey Jing,
thanks for the tip! I'll try it out :-)

laetitia said...

i saw the PnJ mook today at Kinokuniya bugis, they had two stacks placed together with the japanese mags, they were priced ard $28

Anonymous said...

LOL that might have been me falling out of love with Nars because of their stupid tropics unfriendly rubber packaging :(

Anonymous said...

Me here another NARS victim. Even their multiples are like that *smack head*.

I would rather thier small compact shadows & blushers come without mirror and that I'll remove the pan out to palletize them myself.

But the multiples.... bleh, I might elses dust them with baby powder so that the don't feel tacky.

CGee